A new world record of 77,390 people were in attendance to watch the Women’s FA Cup final at Wembley on Sunday, wherein Chelsea emerged victorious over Manchester United, defeating them with a score of 1-0.
Sam Kerr scored the game’s only goal in the 68th minute with this win marking Chelsea’s third consecutive victory of the tournament and keeping their hopes alive for a league and cup double.
The sold-out event broke the previous attendance record for a women’s club domestic match, set in 2019, when Atletico Madrid hosted Barcelona in front of 60,739 fans.
In the Women’s Super League, Chelsea is now second, a point behind league leaders United, but with a game in hand. Their victory at the FA Cup final not only secured the trophy for the team but might have also given them an edge in the title race’s final stages.
Chelsea midfielder Erin Cuthbert said, “It’s one piece of the jigsaw. I want more; this isn’t enough. We want to go for the league now. We can only control the controllables.”
It could have gone differently if Leah Galton’s goal in the opening minute had not been declared offside. However, United could not capitalize on their early advantage, and the score remained 0-0 at half time. In the second half, Kerr’s goal proved to be the deciding factor.
United manager Marc Skinner said, “We switch off in one moment, there’s space to Sam (Kerr) to run in too, which we haven’t given her all game. I’m proud of the girls today; they are hungry. Their (Chelsea’s) position is what we want to take. We are a young, hungry team. I need to find the pieces to make sure we challenge all the time.
“Chelsea has barely done anything in the game, but they are winners for a reason; they find that tiny little gap.”
Aside from winning three FA Cups consecutively, Chelsea has also clinched back-to-back league titles in the last two seasons.
Hayes attributes her team’s winning experience as the deciding factor of the game. “We had to kick each other at halftime,” she said. “We know how to stay in a game and even if we weren’t at our best, we have to work out how to change it. We had to possess the ball better and then find the quality in the final third.”